Great news on the IVD! There has been so much interest in the clinical trial that the developers have asked the FDA for permission to expand the trial to three more sites! If you’re one of the men who has written to Shepherd Medical expressing interest, you can take credit for being part of making this happen.
Now the trial will be accessible to more men. Along with St. Paul, Minnesota, they need to pick three more sites out of five choices:
- Los Angeles, California area
- Shreveport, Louisiana
- Tampa, Florida
- St. Cloud, Minnesota
- North Carolina
If you’re considering a vasectomy and eager to try a “kinder, gentler” alternative, let Shepherd Medical know right away if you live near one of those sites and want to participate. The level of interest they receive will factor into their decision on which sites to pick.
You can contact the clinical study manager, Janelle Antil, at IVDinfo@shepherdmedical.com.
You can learn more about the goals of the trial at the National Institutes Clinical Trial register.
You can read about the Intra Vas Device and how it works at MaleContraceptives.org.
Columnist Georgie Binks brings a mother’s perspective to her piece for CBC News. What do young men need to know about contraception as they go out into the world?
Binks points out that “pregnancy should be a big worry for males these days, because the law has made them financially responsible for their children financially, but the condom or a vasectomy are still the only two birth control options available to men. Once a woman becomes pregnant, it's her decision whether or not to continue the pregnancy.” She then discusses new methods that could give men more options, with a quote from MCIP’s director and a link to MaleContraceptives.org.
Check out this interesting opinion piece at CBC News online.
Return to the top
Look beyond the nearly-identical, airbrushed blondes with attributes not found in nature, and it turns out that Playboy actually has some informative content! Ignore the part about Hugh Hefner’s barely legal girlfriends, and turn right to the part where the advice columnist answers a real-life question about heat methods.
Here’s the situation: A guy saw a piece about heat methods on the Discovery Health Channel and writes in wanting to know if he can make a fortune selling a warming pouch that men can use to make the heat methods practical. The Playboy Advisor says he’s not the first to have this idea: “We’re sorry to disappoint you, but you’re 80 years behind the times. Scientists have been studying the effects of heat on sperm since at least the 1920s…” The columnist manages to explain quite a bit about heat methods in a short space, mention other research, and even get in a mention of MCIP’s website. Want to read the rest? It’s on page 39.
Playboy is one of the few media outlets which still has a dedicated fact-checking staff, and there’s not a single error in the piece. Add in politically opinionated articles on gerrymandering and on Congress’ abdication of the responsibility to maintain checks and balances in government, plus an interview with much-maligned FEMA chief Michael Brown in which he tells his side of the story, and you can honestly tell the cashier, “I’m buying it for the articles!”
Return to the top
Ever wonder what it would be like to use hormonal male contraception? Britain’s The Independent interviewed a study volunteer to find out. The interview is part of a piece on the ongoing development of male hormonal contraception. The article also digs into public attitudes and the role of pharmaceutical companies.
Read the full article in
The Independent news online.
Return to the top
The clinical trials page at MaleContraceptives.org now has new contact information for two upcoming trials whose enrollment processes will start over the coming months. One is the IVD trial described above in this newsletter; the other is an international study of hormonal male contraception sponsored by the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization will coordinate a trial of the effectiveness of a male hormonal contraceptive injection administered every 2 months. This trial will take place in 10 clinical trial centers around the globe: Italy, Indonesia, the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, India, China, and possibly Finland. The purpose of this study is to “establish the contraceptive efficacy of a combined androgen + progestogen regimen for male fertility regulation.” Volunteers will receive combined injections of testosterone undecanoate and the progestin NETE for up to one year.
Read more about this planned trial in the World Health Organization's Reproductive Health clinical trial register.
Return to the top
Editors
Elaine Lissner, Director of the Male Contraception Information Project (MCIP)
Email: info@NewMaleContraception.org
MCIP is entirely nonprofit and works in three areas: raising public awareness of promising nonhormonal male contraceptives, advocating increased and expedited government research, and serving as a resource for journalists who wish to write about the subject.
Kirsten Thompson, Director of the Male Contraceptive Coalition (MCC)
Email: info@MaleContraceptives.org
The Coalition’s objectives are to speed the development of new male contraceptives through increased legislative and institutional support, to raise funds for applied male contraception research and development, and to educate the public about the work of the research community.
